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Sunday, April 7, 2013

Who Needs Mercy?

You
used to hear a lot about "guilt complexes" and "hang-ups"
in the twentieth century. It was as though guilt feelings were never to be
trusted and always to be avoided. The only thing to be ashamed of, was the
feeling of shame. If you felt guilty, it wasn't because you had actually done
anything wrong, but because you had "hang-ups" you needed to get
beyond. If truth is relative, then there's not much that's really wrong—except,
say, murder, judging other people, or failing to recycle.
I think it's worked pretty well. I don't hear much about guilt anymore. If
everything is permissible, what is there to feel guilty about?
Even for those of us who think that there are plenty of
impermissible things, today's feast—Divine Mercy Sunday—doesn't strike us as
that exciting. Perhaps there's been such an emphasis in the last decades
on God's love and mercy that we take them for granted.
Many people today laugh at the idea of hell; if it exists at all, the only
people there are Hitler and his ilk.
If that's true, why did Jesus speak more often of hell than heaven? If there's
no hell, then why do some people who have been resuscitated, who have
experienced "life after death," say that they went there?
"Fire-and-brimstone" sermons are scorned as not only unnecessary, not
only ridiculously archaic, but downright mean. How can it be mean, though, to
remind us of a real danger we'd rather forget?
Nowadays, most people don't think they deserve to go to hell. "I'm not
that bad. I've never killed anyone. I'm basically a good person," they
say. I don't think we're really being honest with ourselves, though, if that's
what we think. When I look back on my life and think of the worst things I've
done, think of the times I've turned my back on the God who has done so much
for me, done things I knew would offend Him, I recognize that I deserve to go
to hell.
If that's hard for you to see for yourself, can you really say that you deserve
to go to Heaven? That you are so wonderful, that your life is so exemplary and
meritorious that you've earned it? I hope not, because that would indicate some
seriously delusional thinking. No one can earn heaven.
I think the real problem is a lack of really thinking about it.
We're so caught up in our day-to-day concerns that we don't think about these
deeper matters.
But if we are not big sinners, that doesn't mean we have nothing
to worry about. Today's feast derives in part from the approved private
revelations to St. Faustina. She said that Jesus wished for not only a Feast
commemorating His Divine Mercy; He also wanted it to be preceded by a novena,
each day dedicated to a different intention. The last day was devoted for the
most difficult: the lukewarm and indifferent. "These souls cause Me more
suffering than any others; it was from such souls that My soul felt the most
revulsion in the Garden of Olives." This echoes what He said in the
Gospels about the lukewarm: that He would spit them out of His mouth.
One way I can arouse gratitude in my heart for His infinite mercy is to
contemplate my need for it. Relating the sorrowful mysteries of His Passion to
my own sins is helpful in this.
Haven't I, for instance, like the disciples in the Garden of Gethsemane, only
added to, rather than relieved, His sorrows? They fell asleep when He needed
them, then fled when He was taken. Haven't I neglected spending time with Him
in prayer, or spaced out if I did go; haven't I run from the cross, abandoned
Him in countless ways?
If every lash of my tongue in my life left a mark, would not my unkind words
leave Him as welt-covered and bloody as did the scourging at the pillar? If my
every negative, critical, selfish, judgmental, proud thought were visible,
would they not amount to a crown of thorns covering His sacred head? If every
sin of omission—every failure to do my part, to carry my cross—resulted in His
not only being burdened with my sins, but in falling under their weight, would
He not have fallen more than three times?
Then the crucifixion: who wants to admit that their sins helped
fix Him to the cross? But I recognize those nails as mine.
How can such reflections not lead to sorrow? That's the point. But
not to remain there. Yes, we should recognize that "It was our sins that
He carried, our punishment that He bore," but precisely in order that we
can rejoice that "By His stripes, we are healed..... On him lies a
punishment that brings us peace."
Guilt feelings should not be denied nor should we swim in them. Rather,
they are meant be used to help us grow in gratitude and holiness.
I asked the Lord, "How much do you love me?"
He said, "This much," and He spread out His arms...and
died for me.
Thank you, Jesus, for your Infinite Mercy.

About Me

I have an M.A. in literature from Catholic University and a B.A. in English and History from Franciscan University. A freelance writer and editor, I have copyedited Catholic books for over 25 years and written for Our Sunday Visitor Newsweekly, St. Austin Review, Franciscan Way, Catholic World Report, Voices, Faith and Family, and New Covenant.
My wonderful husband and I have six precious children.
I'm currently writing a book under contract with Ignatius Press, and thus not able to post here as often. Please keep me in your prayers!

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